Meaning & readings
business, vocation, arts, performance
On’yomi ギョウ、ゴウ
Kun’yomi わざ
Nanori なり、のぶ
Origin
This character appears to depict a wooden frame or stand used in ancient China, possibly for hanging or displaying things — the vertical strokes form the frame, with the crossbar representing a horizontal support. Over time, the meaning expanded from the physical object to represent work, crafts, and tasks performed using such frames and tools. Eventually it came to mean any kind of work, business, or skilled performance. The native Japanese reading "waza" (meaning technique or art) reflects this connection to skilled work and craftsmanship.
Components
This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (業).
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 13
- Kangxi radical
- 75
- Formation type
- Pictographic or simple
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #43 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+0696D